The central scientific question in Stars and Waves – not
revealed at the beginning – is of finding life elsewhere in the
Universe. The answer had been pursued in two ways. The typical
programs to search for advanced technological extraterrestrial
intelligence (SETI) usually rely on various leaked emission –
for example, radio from communications or heat from massive
computation or from Dyson spheres
[1]}, [2]}, [3]}.
We argued in [4]}
that advanced technological ETCs are likely to reduce such
losses, rendering these strategies inefficient. This leaves
us with the options of communicating either with advanced ETCs
that are willing to set up beacons intentionally aimed at and
optimized for “younger” cousins like us, or with nearby (in
both space and development) peer-level ETCs that allow
significant radio or thermal leaks.
